


Washed Up, Washed Out

by asterysk



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Crack, Cuddle Pile, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Gen, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), and published right away because of the weekly prompt, and then finished it off in some adreneline rush, as a spice, just a tiny smattering of crack, slightly beta read in that i had people read it over, this has been in wip hell for months
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:48:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26738386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asterysk/pseuds/asterysk
Summary: It's been rough for the gang. They deserve at least one day to let go.(Aka The Beach Episode)
Relationships: Its All The LU Boys In A Cuddle Pile
Comments: 15
Kudos: 193





	Washed Up, Washed Out

Today was the kind of day that, when they stopped moving, all the adrenaline and momentum seeped from them. Road hardened as they were, even they had their limits - they hadn't seen civilization for nearly two weeks, thanks to unfortunate switching between times and worlds leaving them constantly stranded in the middle of nowhere. And of course, the middle of nowhere was where all the worst foes liked to live. The onslaught was steady and seemingly unending.

So, when they were switched to a lush and yet deserted island from Wind's Great Sea, all of their momentum deserted them too.

Wind had practically flopped bonelessly on one of the white sand shores as soon as the initial scouting had been done.

"Guys... I don't think I can get up again..."

Time paused a moment in carrying firewood to their campsite to peer down at him with a wry yet sympathetic smile. "It's probably best if you at least move a bit more inshore - the tide could come in."

Wind just groaned and looked Time in the eye. "Gimme... Five minutes at least..."

"Well, don't blame me if the waves start lapping at your toes." Time flashed him a grin, but he could see the dark circles around Wind's eyes, same as everyone else of the party.

Leaving the sailor to lie in the soft sand, Time staggered with his armful of kindling the rest of the way to camp - a rag-tag gathering of similarly lethargic Heroes. Time barely got a glance as he dumped his cargo roughly within the boundaries of their pitch and joined them.

"I think... The plan for today goes without saying." Time addressed no one in particular as he started shedding parts of his armour. "I don't think we're fit for much in the state we're in."

There was a weak chuckle from Legend's direction. Slumped against a bit of driftwood, there was a haze of tiredness in his expression. "Ha, if the Old Man is taking his armour off, it really is official... I don't-" His sentence was cut off by a yawn forcing its way into the world. Legend blinked blearily for a moment before waving a hand dismissively and settling down, using his hat to cover his eyes.

That summed up the current state of everyone. With the sun still rising, the air warm, the sky blue and clear... The waves calm... The island, quiet, save for seabirds, insects and breeze...

A nap was long overdue.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Some hours passed before any of the heroes began to stir once again. The sun had climbed higher, the heat in its gaze becoming apparent. Those who hadn't retreated to shade or some other cover were roused as their cheeks began to sting slightly...

Sky blinked. What had he been doing? His mind felt as stiff as his bones. The sun was on the verge of becoming uncomfortable rather than soothing... So there was little to do but to try and sit up.

Sand brushed off the surface of his clothes as he moved, but the loosened sand belay the sand that had wormed its way into folds of clothes and skin... He hadn't even changed out of his normal layers, leaving areas damp and gritty.

"Ugh. Why did I fall asleep like this. Who let me fall asleep like this." Sky mumbled under his breath as he looked around at the surroundings, decorated with passed out heroes. He did a quick head count - eight, not including him. All comatose- nobody on watch. Man, they really were on the last of their energy if they all just passed out like this. Sky would thank the Goddess that they had somewhere safe to nap, but he was currently groggy and covered in sand, so that knocked some points off it all.

A groan close by made Sky turn his head, bleary eyes meeting bleary eyes.

Warriors squinted, yawned so wide Sky could see far more of his mouth and throat than he ever particularly wanted to... And then grinned up at him.

"You've got sand all over your face." Warriors drawled with a hint of amusement.

"Don't get too smug - you're not much better, y'know."

"I look fantastic no matter what."

Before Sky could make a retort, a shout accompanied Wind suddenly sitting up from where he had been laying a ways away.

"aaaaaaaaAAAAAAHHH GET IT OOOFFFFF-"

It was hard to tell what was the matter between all the flailing, but before anyone could get their limbs to move, Wind pried a crab from his clothes and flung it back to the sea.

There was a moment of stillness before Wind whipped his head round towards those watching him.

"You didn't see ANYTHING."

Contrary to his statement, Sky and Warriors did see something, possibly the funniest thing they could have seen in their sleepy state: Wind's exaggerated, bleary death glare, his sun-caught cheeks, and a mark right on his nose that presumably was courtesy of the crab.

"Uh-huh. Suuuurreee." Warriors at least had the decency to try and stifle his laughter, unlike Sky.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


After Wind's outburst, the rest of the group woke up gradually, and groggily. There were some sheepish looks between each other, mutual agreements to not comment on how utterly exhausted each of them looked.

It took until early afternoon before energy returned to them, enough to do something other than just lounge...

"Wiiiillldd...?"

The blue-clad Champion looked up from his Slate to see Hyrule smiling down at him, that conspiratorial smile that to Wild, meant only one thing.

There was only one thing for Wild to do in return - grin back.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Four looked up just in time to see Hyrule and Wild disappearing into the treeline.

"Uh, should we stop them?"

"Eh, the island isn't that big. I doubt they could get lost." Legend didn't even look up from his trinkets; how he knew Four was talking about Hyrule and Wild, they didn't know.

"...I don't doubt it, but... Ugh. I'm not going after them."

Legend smiled but said nothing as he inspected a ring. He had gone through several more before the fidgeting of the hero next to him registered.

"Are you okay Four?"

No response. Legend sighed and moved to get their attention. "Four, if you need to split, go ahead. We've had this talk, we don't mind."

The distant look in Four's eyes faded as they snapped back to the outside world. "Ha, we keep forgetting we don't have to hide it." They got to their feet sluggishly, a sign of their coordination slipping, and drew their sword to split.

The light had barely subsided before Red and Blue took off towards the ocean, laughing, leaving Green and Vio behind.

Vio glanced over to Green, rolling his eyes in the others' direction in wordless comment.

Green chuckled as they moved to sit back down where they had been before. "Ugh, I know, why do they get to hog the energy?" He grabbed their shared pack, retrieving a book from it and passing it to Vio.

It was always fascinating to watch how, even when apart, the four of them were so in sync with each other. Legend smiled back as Vio gave him a small wave, before wandering off to the other side of camp to absorb himself in whatever reading material he was onto now... Legend knew it wasn't all easy for them, but something… something within him envied having someone to support you like that. It might have made the gauntlet of journeys he went through less... Burdensome.

"Okay, my turn now. What's eating you?"

"Hm?" Legend turned to the one of Four still by him. He definitely hadn't zoned out and forgotten he was there.

"You've got that look on your face that you get when you're moping."

"I do not, nor have I ever, mope."

"Lies, and you know it. C'mon, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but let's talk about something"

"...Well then," Legend rolled his eyes and lay back again, looking up at the sapphire sky, "the classic small talk topic is weather, right? Why can't it be this nice in every place we get dumped in?"

Green laughed, and Legend was quietly thankful that he was satisfied with the topic in question. 

"Ugh, I know. If we get dumped in a snowfield again any time soon, I'm pretty sure me and Blue are going to snap."

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


The rhythm of the surf was punctuated by the splashing of feet, each stride displacing water in all directions, soaking to the skin. 

Wind raced back and forth, picking out from the waves small things that caught his eye. "Sky! Look at this one!" He held out a small but vibrant butterfly shell; the two conjoined halves a royal purple inside and glistening from the residue of seawater.

Sky took the shell gingerly, not wanting to damage the delicate bond between the halves, and marvelled at it. "I still can't believe that every one of these was once part of a creature... What lived in this one?"

Wind scrunched his face as he thought. "Dunno, but my bet would be on a kind of clam."

They had only just added it to the pouch when a red blur sped past them, whooping as they barrelled into the white water. Their blue counterpart followed behind, but didn't get there before Red jumped into the water... And bounced off the bottom.

Blue skidded to a halt with a scowl. "What do you expect, it doesn't suddenly get deep!" Red could only scowl back for a second before the wave vanished him.

"Um... Is he okay?" Sky wandered over to Blue, concern across his face as he looked out to where Red still splashed.

Blue scoffed. "Yeah, he's fine. Just an idiot-" As if on cue, Red tried to stand but was bowled over by another wave. "...Uh, maybe he does need help."

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Further along the beach, Twilight and Warriors wandered at a more steady pace. 

"I still can't believe you're wearing that scarf." Twilight smirked as he glanced over at his companion. 

"Look, I've untied it. It's keeping the sun off my neck and shoulders, something that you would be wise to think about." Warriors raised an eyebrow at his choice of attire- or rather, lack of it, having shed all his shirts and tunics.

"C'mon, I'm outside all the time, I'm no stranger to the sun." He shrugged his shoulders, shoulders that unseen to him were starting to redden.

Warriors sighed. "Whatever you say..." 

He looked away to see the light glinting off the ocean, giving it the appearance of glass, and something of the sight made it feel more than the sum of its parts.

"It's funny how a place can just calm and soothe you like this." Twilight had come to a halt, looking back at him with a knowing smile.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. Some places just... Make the tension just melt away." 

Elsewhere, a shout came to disturb the gentle peace, washing it away as quickly as it had been born. Both of them craned their necks to see what was going on amidst the splashing. 

Twilight cleared his throat. “Uh, I think I’ll go take your advice and get some shade. Talk to you later!”

Sudden excuse made, he hurried back towards the treeline with a pace undeserved of the situation, and yet clumsily masked by his stiff stride. Warriors pretended to lose interest in watching him, turning back to the ocean horizon just enough to see out the corner of his eye Wolfie bounding towards the surf, moments before more cries echoed along the shoreline.

“You’re really not as slick as you think you are, farm boy…” He clutched at his scarf-shawl as the now cooling breeze threatened to snatch it. “...though, at least you now have fur to cover up that sunburn.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


Wild and Hyrule stumbled out of the treeline, smeared with dirt, still tangled in plantlife, and with satchels full with forage. A quick glance to confirm that they had indeed found camp again, and they allowed themselves to relax.

Wild ran a hand through his hair, picking out a twig. “...I think we really need a compass each.”

“A compass? I- hmm.” Hyrule started digging around the contents of his bag, looking for something. Wild looked on as he finally pulled his prize out- or rather prizes, because in his hand were no less than three compasses. “There! I think this one hasn’t broken…”   
  
The champion looked at the small but functional compass that he had been handed, and sighed. “You’ve had multiple compasses this WHOLE time?”   
  
“Well, er-,” he stammered, grinning nervously and rubbing the back of his neck, “We didn’t know which way camp was in the first place.”

A beat of silence passed before Wild shrugged. “...Y’know, fair”

  
  


Laughing between themselves, they dragged tender feet towards the disorganised base they had all made. Only a couple of heads turned - the others asleep or preoccupied. Legend looked up at the pair in a charade of a scowl.

“What the hell were you doing? You two look like you rolled around in a stable.”

“Foraging.” Hyrule smiled, choosing to ignore the comment on his appearance. He dug in his bag again, this time producing a large brown object from it. “Have you seen one of these before? It’s called a coconut!”

Legend raised an eyebrow. “Huh, y’know, I’ve seen those before but I've never actually eaten one… Apparently they’re a pain to open.” 

  
From where Wild was offloading his haul, he chipped in. “Yeah, it's a pain to get all the insides, but the fluid inside makes a great sauce and marinade base.”

  
  


“WOLFIE-”

Before they could even react, the canine had sprinted up to the camp. Wild only had time to make eye contact and see the gleam in Twilight’s eye, a smugness that belay his plan, before he shook the saltwater off himself and all over anyone in the splash zone.

Which was mostly the formerly sleeping Time. 

Amidst all the shouting, the elder startled awake, scarred eye snapping open for a second before he caught himself. The grogginess diluted the power of his glare as he stared at the panting culprit.   
  


Wolfie didn’t stick around to get chewed out - he was off again, grabbing Wild by the soiled hem of his tunic and softly tugging for him to follow back to the sea.

  
  


Laughter echoed as the light began to yellow.

* * *

The warmth of the sun was vanishing into the horizon, replaced by the campfire spluttering into life. Chatter filled the air as everyone settled into their evening routines, busying themselves as tonight’s meal was getting underway.

The soft noises of carving added to the rhythm of camp, as Sky played with a piece of driftwood, etching flowers and vines across its surface. A bit further away, and with less dexterity, Hyrule was struggling with the coconut, tongue stuck out in concentration as the knife threatened to kick out from his grip.

  
  
As Warriors intervened to prevent Hyrule from losing a fingertip, Legend leant over to Sky. “Hey, you got any spare driftwood?”

Sky tossed over a decently sized piece of wood with a smile. “Do you need a knife too?”

  
  
“Nah, I’ve got plenty.” He moved back to his seat, taking a moment to scope out his materials before starting. 

Slowly, the chatter quietened, replaced with soft carving, and the silence of people watching.

Wind was the first to indulge their curiosity. “What are you making?” He shuffled over to the veteran to get a closer look at the rough wood taking shape.

“Uh.” Legend blinked out of focus. “I was just messing with it…”

“It kinda looks like a pig.”

  
  
“Well… I figured these two offshoots looked like tusks so I just went with the first thing that came to mind… it’s, uh.” Hurriedly, he put it to the side and covered it up with his pack. “It doesn’t matter, I was just messing around.”

Wind was about to protest when Twilight placed a hand on his shoulder. “If he doesn’t want to show, that’s okay, don’t pressure him into it.”

With a small pout, he relented, instead pulling out a piece of his own driftwood that he found earlier. “Well, I’m gonna make my own. Anyone else want a piece?”

“I’ll take one Sailor,” Time reached across to take the offered wood slip, “though, truth be told I haven’t done any carving for a long time.”

Warriors chuckled. “Bet you’d be better than me; I can barely draw let alone carve something.” 

“Don’t write yourself off, you might find some latent talent in you yet.” With that, Time tossed another wood slip over to him with a smile.

  
  


As dinner began to take shape, everyone had gotten roped into carving something out of the plentiful driftwood: The still split fours collaborating, Twilight sticking his tongue out in concentration, Sky starting a new piece when he had run out of room on his first.

“Hey Wild! Look!” Wind wandered over to the cook, waving the carving under his nose. 

“Wind, I can’t see it-” Carefully, he took it, the tiny figurine in his hands the spitting image of a korok. The crudely carved face fit perfectly and made it feel alive. “Hah, that’s pretty cute. Good job!”

The kid beamed and stood up straight again. “Hey, I wanna see what everyone else has made!”

Murmuring and shuffling preceded Green clearing his throat. “Well, we’re not totally done yet, but… We’re making some minish.”

Twilight shrugged. “I honestly have no idea what I’ve made, I just did whatever. Looks kinda dragon like.” 

“I made Malon.” Time unveiled his… masterpiece.

“Uh, looks nice.” Legend bit back the comment he wanted to make, which was along the lines of “Looks more like a deformed Lynel.”

“Thanks!” replied Time, with a little too much sweetness to his voice, as he turned the wood slip round to seemingly look at the carving… only to reveal a carving to rival Sky’s on the reverse. 

Warriors groaned. “And here I thought I had a companion in the Terrible Carving Club. Should have known better from you…”

“Go on, show us yours then Captain.” Time grinned.

“I… went more geometric. Figured it was pointless trying to get too fancy.” 

“It looks nice though, I started off with patterns myself.” Sky chimed in, shifting in his seat. “People underestimate how hard it is to get true-to-life looking things in wood with just a knife or chisel.”

“Done!” Hyrule, who until now had been ignoring the conversation suddenly held up what he had been working on this whole time - the coconut, now with a face.

“Hah, you made a friend! Are you gonna name him?” Wind lent forwards to get a closer look at the surprisingly well carved nut.

Hyrule looked at it in contemplation for a second before shrugging. “I’ve no idea.”

Warriors stifled a laugh before saying what crossed his mind. “Well, if he’s part of the gang he’s gotta be a Link.”

Green silenced Blue’s protests before chipping in. “Okay, but then he just needs a nickname.”

Twilight pondered for a second. “How about Hero of Islands?”

“Hey-!” Wind was cut short by Warriors.

“You’re not the Hero of Islands though, you’re Winds.”

Vio kept muttering to himself. “Hero of Nuts- nope that's not good.”

“Hero of Castaways.” Time fought to keep the grin off his face.

“It’s gonna be the Hero of Stir Crazy at this rate.” Legend drawled.

  
  


For the first time in a long while, Wild blinked out of his cooking focus and looked up.

“Hey, ‘Rule, can I have the coconut milk now?”

The camp nearly broke out into a riot.

* * *

Night had drawn in completely, the only light left being the soft flicker of fire, the crescent of the moon, and the myriad of stars above. It was a testament to their exhaustion that, despite the extended naps earlier, the party was still ready to bed down. 

The still present lapping of the waves was deceptively lulling. 

And without thinking, Legend yawned, and lent against Time.

The hush of camp shifted from a natural one to a strained one, as everyone still aware of their surroundings tried not to disturb the scene. Time shared a glance at Hyrule, who just smirked, and leant against Time’s other side. Now trapped, Time resigned himself to his fate with a sigh.

Around camp, the same story was being repeated. The quartet of Fours were practically piled on top of each other, Wind was nestled into Warriors, and elsewhere, Twilight was sandwiched between Sky and Wild. 

It was that special kind of tired, that loosened hesitations and sought comfort.

The stars flickered in the sky, like a million campfires mirroring the scene below.

“Twi…” Sky whispered cautiously. “Did your pelt get wet earlier?”

The rancher blinked. “Uh, maybe? Why do you ask?”

  
“You, um…” Sky laughed softly as he truly lost the battle. “You kinda smell like wet dog.”

**Author's Note:**

> its DOOOOOOOOOONNNEEEEEE
> 
> sorry for any wonky formatting because i cant look at it any longer right now


End file.
